The world's largest dinosaur footprint has been uncovered in northwestern Australia. Measuring nearly 5 feet 9 inches (1.75 meters), the track belongs to a sauropod who roamed the region 140 million years ago. Researcher Richard Hunter lies alongside the print

Palaeontologists made the discovery in rocks up to 140 million years old alongside an unprecedented 21 different types of dinosaur tracks in an area dubbed 'Australia's Jurassic Park'. Pictured are some examples of the tracks found by the team

THE SAUROPODS

Sauropods are an order of dinosaurs.

They had very long necks, long tails, small heads (relative to the rest of their body), and four thick, pillar-like legs.

They are notable for the enormous sizes attained by some species, and the group includes the largest creatures to have ever lived on land.

Sauropods first appeared in the late Triassic Period, and by the Late Jurassic period, 150 million years ago, they had become widespread.

Dr Steve Salisbury, a palaeontologist at University of Queensland and lead author of a paper on the findings, said it was the most diverse discovery of its kind in the world.

'It is extremely significant, forming the primary record of non-avian dinosaurs in the western half of the continent and providing the only glimpse of Australia's dinosaur fauna during the first half of the Early Cretaceous Period,' he said.

'Among the tracks is the only confirmed evidence for stegosaurs in Australia. There are also some of the largest dinosaur tracks ever recorded.'

The tracks were almost lost forever when in 2008 the area, known as the Dampier Peninsula, was selected as the preferred site for a massive liquid natural gas plant.

Alarmed by the move, the region's traditional Aboriginal custodians - the Goolarabooloo people - contacted Dr Salisbury and his team to officially research what they knew was there.

They spent more than 400 hours investigating and documenting dinosaur tracks in the area.

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The sauropod that made these tracks would have been around 5.4 meters (17 feet 9 inches) high at the hips. Pictured is a size comparison of a similarly sized Sauropod next to a human

The team measured and analysed each set of tracks and cast the important finds in silicon to preserve them. Pictured, scientists create a silicon cast of sauropod tracks, a dinosaur with a distinctively a long neck

The team measured and analysed each set of tracks and cast the important finds in silicon to preserve them.

The area was eventually awarded National Heritage status in 2011 and the gas project subsequently collapsed.

'There are thousands of tracks around Walmadany. Of these, 150 can confidently be assigned to 21 specific track types, representing four main groups of dinosaurs,' Dr Salisbury said.

'There were five different types of predatory dinosaur tracks, at least six types of tracks from long-necked herbivorous sauropods, four types of tracks from two-legged herbivorous ornithopods, and six types of tracks from armoured dinosaurs.'

The team used drones to find tracks along the coast and then measured them while the tide was out. Pictured are a set of predator tracks found by the researchers (lighter shapes in the centre of the image)

The researchers used laser imaging techniques to map out some of the footprints so they could analyse their size and shape digitally. Pictured is a digital model of some of the footprints found (darker, three-toed shapes)

Most of Australia's dinosaur fossils have previously come from the eastern side of the country.

Sauropods are an order of dinosaurs.

They had very long necks, long tails, small heads (relative to the rest of their body), and four thick, pillar-like legs.

They are notable for the enormous sizes attained by some species, and the group includes the largest creatures to have ever lived on land.